XMen: A New Flame
by Cassie Bogner
Summary: This is the story of Pyra, her history and her new life at Xavier's Institute for the Gifted. I own nothing
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

_Pyra Get's Her Gloves_

Pyra had been at the Xavier's Institute for the gifted for three weeks now. No one, minus Xavier and herself knew her story.

Pyra was born, Kaija Ann McArthur to Aaron and Esther McArthur. Her mother, she never knew, she had died giving birth to Kaija, their second child. Esther McArthur suffered from immense heat, literally burning her from the inside out. The newborn girl was the cause as the doctors soon found out. The doctor that delivered Kaija was left with a third degree burn on his hand from merely touching the child's skin. The father sent his son away to live at his grandmother's house down the street and took Kaija home the day she was born, knowing that because of her differences, she would not be helped at this hospital.

Aaron had spent days trying to figure out how to care for the child. Her crib was made of metal, her sheets were made of old fire blankets and her clothes were crafted from old fire suits made from one of the firefighters' wives. Aaron was a firefighter, so he had the resources available to care for the child. His fellow firefighters accepted Kaija just as Aaron did.

The child grew, she was taught at home, and had frequent temper tantrums where flames would shoot out. Her power was uncontrollable. Her brother, Robert would visit after school, but he never liked his younger sister, she was too different.

One day when she was five, she saw a picture of her mother on the coffee table; her father had been staring at it for some time. She asked Aaron who the woman was, and he told her.

"She was your mother," he answered sadly.

"Where is she," Kaija asked.

"Something happened to her when you were born," Aaron said searching for the right words so he would not upset his daughter. "Kaija, you were born with your powers, your skin can not be touched."

This Kaija already knew.

"Your mother was burned from inside out, while you were still inside h-"

"I killed her," Kaija asked, the flames in her eyes were dim. "I didn't mean to."

Aaron only nodded, he wanted to hold his daughter, but he did not have his gloves on, they were in the kitchen, he could not just leave her.

Kaija let everything register, she killed her mother, intending to or not. Flames grew from her arms and hands and rapidly spread over her body. The floor was wooden, and flames quickly spread in the living room, catching the carpet, the coffee table and even the ceiling. She was upset with herself. Anger was one emotion she did not know how to react on.

Kaija stood in the middle of the living room, in flames. Her father reached out for her without his gloves on, a fatherly instinct to drag her out of the house. The flesh on his hand was quickly eaten away, he screamed in pain and fell against the wall, a support beam fell on top of him and Kaija ran to his side, still in flames. Her flames grew more bright and larger.

Soon sirens screamed down the street and firefighters jumped off the freighter. The flames were doused with water and foam, the girl and her father were pulled from the house as it began to crumble. Flames destroyed everything beautiful, nothing could be saved, no one but the girl could be saved. Her father died of deadly burns and the inhalation of smoke. The child escaped without a mark, burn or even so much as a cough.

Kaija was taken to an orphanage where she was locked in solitude for ten years before she escaped to find a place where she would be safe. She was tired of the poking and prodding of scientists and the solitude. She wandered for four months before encountering Magneto and another week before encountering Scott Summers and Logan.

She was taken to Xavier's Institute for the Gifted, where we find her now, standing in the doorway of the gymnasium in her new gym uniform. It consisted of red shorts with a stripe down the sides, a plain gray t-shirt and plain white tennis shoes. A few students snickered as she walked to her place on the attendance line. She ignored them.

"Hey, Pyra," one boy taunted. "When are you going to talk? Are you mute?"

Pyra ignored them. Her father had dubbed her Pyra. It was a pet name. Everyone she met seemed to take to it; it had been years since she heard her birth name.

The instructor walked in, a Cajun man with a deck of cards in his hand. He was known as Gambit, but Pyra did not understand what the deck of cards was for. Were they going to play 'Go Fish'?

Gambit quickly took attendance, pausing to look at Pyra for a moment, then moved on. "Today, we run," he said with his Cajun accent. No one moved, "Now," he shouted.

Students quickly dispersed and began to run around the gym. Pyra started to run, taking the end of the line, and gradually moving up, keeping her eye on the instructor. When a good portion of the line was moving to slow for the Cajun, a card was thrown and exploded near the group. The first time this happened Pyra reacted quickly, throwing a fireball at the instructor before she had time to think. His jacket caught on fire, and the group stopped running.

Pyra realized what she had done and closed her fist in the air; the flames on Gambit's jacket disappeared quickly. He marched angrily towards the group of stunned students.

"What do you think you're trying to pull on Gambit," the instructor asked, angrily and in a Cajun accent.

The group parted from Pyra, and a boy snickered in the back.

Pyra kept her eyes steady, and they locked with Gambit's eyes.

"What's de matter? Cat got your tongue?"

The same boy that snickered let out a little meow as her turned from human to a cat, then back again. Pyra saw it from the corner of her eye. Her eyes wandered from Gambit's towards the noise and then she glared back.

"No," she said, not trusting her own voice. "Nothing has my tongue. It was reaction," she continued. "I wasn't expecting the noise."

Gambit looked hard at her, his eyes showed anger. "You ruined Gambit's jacket!"

"You surprised me," Pyra deflected the blame.

"You need better control of your power," Gambit argued.

Pyra said nothing, but her eyes turned to small balls of flame, they grew bright and angry.

"Thanks to your new classmate, you all will run for the rest of the day," Gambit announced and seemed pleased at the groans. He walked back to the center of the gym, knowing that Pyra was glaring at him.

The students began to run and the boy that snickered ran next to Pyra. "Thanks for nothing; I hear you're good at getting into trouble."

Pyra smiled evilly, "Is that what they say? What do they call you?"

"Beast Boy," the boy smirked.

Pyra laughed and ran towards the front of the line.

Soon gym class was over, and Pyra was glad. It was true; she had been getting into a lot of trouble lately. She stood at her locker, it was still locked, she could not figure out how to do the combination, so she left it. She packed her gym clothes in her book bag and slung the bag over her shoulder. A girl laughed, but not at her. Showers were running but Pyra did not bother with them, it is not as if she would be damp for long anyways.

Pyra walked into the hall, there waiting was Beast Boy and two of his followers. Pyra turned to walk the other way, they teleported in front of her.

Pyra stopped in her tracks. "Leave me alone," she growled.

The boys parted and let her pass, snickering as she walked away. They would get her good one day.

Pyra was on her way to Biology with Storm. Storm made science easy to understand, she explained it really well. Pyra took her seat in the third aisle from the right and two seats from the back. Beast Boy had the same class and took a seat behind Pyra. Pyra pretended to ignore his existence.

Class started and Pyra felt awkward, she had a book, but did not want to risk burning it by touching it, like shad burned so many things before. She sat very still at her desk, taking mental notes and participating in the class.

Storm understood Pyra's dilemma, and had spoken with Professor Xavier about the matter. He was working on something for Pyra that would allow her to be a bit closer to the normal being. Storm drew a picture of a cell on the chalkboard behind her and began to explain the different organelles.

"Hey," a voice behind Pyra whispered. "You know what else they say about you?"

Pyra ignored the voice and continued to make notes on the vacuoles and ribosome of the cell.

"Pyra, they say you are dangerous," the voice continued.

Pyra smiled, "they are not wrong," she whispered over her shoulder and continued to take mental notes.

Beast Boy smiled and leaned back in his chair.

The hour passed quickly, at least for Pyra, not so much for other students. Pyra had not been given the chance for an education since she lived at the orphanage. She was cherishing every moment.

Pyra walked out of the class without her book, Storm had picked it up and told Pyra that Xavier was working on something that would help her, but she never said what. Beast Boy followed her out.

"They say that you killed your family," Beast Boy said. "Burned them alive…do you hear them scream?" He mocked a girl's cry of agony.

Pyra turned on the kid before the kid could react, her arms, eyes and hair were in flames and she gripped Beast Boy's neck before he transformed into a caterpillar, screaming in real pain.

Storm rushed out of her classroom after hearing a couple screams and chants for the fight to go on. She saw Pyra standing in flames and raced back to her desk, picking up a telephone and calling Scott.

Scott was out the door of his Geometry class in no time at all. He spied Bobby Drake in the hallway he called for his help and stopped in Logan's classroom before moving on. Soon three mutants were racing towards the fight. Storm tried to keep students away from the fight as Pyra and Beast Boy were fighting on. Pyra fought out of anger, Beast Boy now only fought to escape her wrath.

Bobby spied Pyra in flames and sent a coat of ice towards her flames to cool her off and allow time for Logan and Scott to get through the crowd of students.

Pyra let more heat escape and melt the ice; she was angry and wanted to fight. She could not see, nor did she care that Beast Boy was nearly petrified of her. She was too angry to see the fear on his face and to notice that his attempts to fight her were to escape. Someone grabbed her from behind and started to pull her off Beast Boy. Flames ignited around her waist in attempt to burn the arms that held her and escape.

Logan yelled in pain but did not let go. He continued to drag her away from the fight, even though his attempts clearly did not stop it as, three balls of flames flew towards Beast Boy who was just now relaxing. A stream of ice hit each ball of fire; freezing them and making them drop. Two streams of ice also made their way to Pyra to cool her down enough for Logan to handle her.

Scott helped Beast Boy sit down on the ground, the crowd had dispersed immensely and he looked at Logan. "Take her to the neutral room," he near ordered. "Storm, call Hank…Bobby see what you can do to stop the burns."

The three mutants nodded at their orders. Storm was back at her desk calling Hank, the Institutes doctor. Logan began to drag the fighting Pyra down the stairs and to the neutral room. Bobby waited with Beast Boy until Hank arrived and Scott went to talk to Xavier about the unfortunate event.

Once downstairs and at the neutral room doors, Logan threw Pyra inside and locked the door until his skin regenerated. Pyra fell to the floor but was quickly back on her feet and banging on the large metal door, not noticing that she was not using her powers. When Logan felt brave enough to take on the girl, he opened the door, pushed her out of his way, and closed the door behind him, which automatically locked.

Pyra fell back to the ground, glaring at Logan as she quickly got back up. She threw a few punches and hit her mark until Logan caught on and caught her fists. Pyra tried to light her hands but nothing happened, a look of fear spread across her face. She did not know what happened, she had never run out of flames before.

"What the hell do you think you were doing," Logan asked, clearly put out.

Pyra tried to twist her hands out of Logan's grip without any success.

"No, you're not escaping this one, kid," Logan said tightening his grip until she winced in pain. Pyra kicked at him, but he was too far away from her for her long legs to reach. Logan twisted her arm and then pushed her into the wall. "Sit," he commanded, glad that he did not have his powers right now.

Pyra reluctantly sat, bringing her knees to her chest and glaring, silently up at Logan.

"What the hell was that," he asked again.

Pyra held her glare and said nothing.

"Look, kid," Logan said crouching down to the level of her eyes. "I don't know what Beast Boy said, but he probably deserved it. Are you going to tell me what happened?"

Pyra's face-hardened at the thought of the boys words. Her skin was getting cold she shivered. "It's my fault," she said clearly.

"Yeah, kid," Logan said. "Part of it is your fault."

Pyra shook her head. "It is all my fault," she yelled.

"Care to explain?"

Just then, Scott entered followed by Xavier. Pyra tried to make a run for the door, but Logan caught her with one strong arm and pulled her back down to where she was sitting before.

Pyra went down hard but she did nothing except glare at the three now. Scott stood beside Xavier, looking down at the girl.

"Pyra, we can't be having fights everyday at the institute," Xavier said. "I do not fully blame you, I know you have a short temper but you seem to have more control of it than I thought. However, it takes two to fight."

"She won't say what happened," Logan half growled with frustration.

Pyra looked to the eyes of each person that spoke, still angry.

"Kaija, something had to have provoked you," Xavier said.

Xavier was the last person Pyra wanted to talk too. He was the only one besides her that knew her history, and now it seemed the entire school knew. Pyra still said nothing.

Xavier waited patiently, for an answer.

"The quicker you tell us, the quicker you get your powers back," Logan, said hoping that would get her to talk.

Scott saw Pyra shiver and took a step towards her. "Are you scared?"

Pyra shook her head.

Scott looked at Xavier with confusion.

"It was something he said," Pyra finally replied, staring Xavier down with her glare. "Something I thought only you and I knew."

"What did he say," Xavier asked, slightly concerned, now.

Pyra looked at Scott and Logan, knowing that if a student knew, they probably knew too. "He said that he heard," she paused, and then spoke angrily. "He heard I killed my family…he asked if I could still hear their screams, and then he screamed."

It was silent for a split second.

"I gave him something to scream about," she said wanting to smile, but did not dare.

Logan looked from Xavier to Pyra, wide-eyed.

Scott's eyebrows rose in surprise.

"I didn't tell anyone, Kaija," Xavier said, catching her implication that he did. "Most mutants do come here because they hurt someone."

"You burned Beast Boy pretty badly," Scott informed Pyra.

Pyra held Scott's eyes with her own. "He deserved it," she muttered.

"Really," Scott asked, "that bad?"

"He was fighting to escape you," Logan added. "Not to get joy out of bulling you."

Pyra nodded realizing her mistake. "So I should leave? Are you kicking me out too?"

"No," Xavier said quickly. "We want to help you. You have a great potential-"

"I don't think I would have done any different if someone said that to me," Scott said. "It hurts the most when it holds true, doesn't it?"

Pyra nodded confused at how Scott knew how she felt.

"You two have a lot in common," Xavier said. "Perhaps the three of you can work together?"

Logan nodded, "I'm going to check on Beast Boy." Then he got up and left.

Xavier smiled and extended his hand to Pyra. He was close enough now to her that he could have touched her.

Pyra shivered and tried to melt into the wall. "Don't touch me," she yelled.

Scott looked confused, he hadn't had Pyra in his class yet, in fact, that's where she was on her way to.

Xavier backed up to give the girl more comfort. Then he pulled a pair of maroon gloves out of a box. "These are for you," he said and handed them to Pyra.

Pyra took the gloves slowly, being careful not to touch Xavier's skin. She shivered more.

"Uh, should we get her to the infirmary," Scott asked. "It's not that cold in here, and she's shivering like she's in a blizzard in summer clothes."

Xavier watched Pyra for a moment. "We need to get you out of this room."

Scott helped Pyra up, even though she nearly fought him, his bare skin touching hers. Her skin was at a normal temperature, for a normal human.

"Let go," Pyra shouted and tore herself out of Scott's grip. "I don't want to hurt you!"

Scott watched her stumble back and now he understood. "In this room, you can't hurt me. This room takes your powers for as long as you are in it."

Xavier led them out and told Pyra to put on the gloves. Pyra could feel her powers come back to her as she stepped out. She obeyed, and put on the gloves. The maroon cloth ran up past her elbow, the fabric felt like cotton but did not burn. Xavier waited for a response. Scott, now understanding that Pyra could not touch anything because her normal body heat is extremely high, and the gloves were made so she could touch things, extended his hand to her.

Pyra shook her head and started to back into the wall.

Scott grabbed her gloved hand and they both waited a second. He did not scream in pain, in fact he was smiling. "The gloves will allow you to touch books, people wood, and really anything," Scott explained. "Professor Xavier is good at solving problems." He let go of her hand and stepped away, then showed her that his hand was not burned. "See?"

Pyra looked confused and astonished. "Th-Thank you," she said to Xavier. "I'm…I'm sorry-"

"There is nothing to be sorry for, Kaija," Xavier said as he wheeled away. He stopped a few feet from the elevator and turned back to Pyra. "I can have them made in any color, style and length, just let me know. Rouge may be a good person to talk to about gloves too." He smiled and disappeared into the elevator.

Pyra looked at Scott then at the floor.

"Come on, let's go see how Beast Boy is doing," Scott said, as he walked up the stairs.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

_Lesson #1: Know Your Limits_

Pyra followed Scott to the infirmary where a large blue beastly looking man was taking care of Beast Boy.

"Hank," Scott said. "How's he looking?"

Hank looked up and motioned for the two visitors to come closer. "She the one," Hank asked Scott, as he eyed Kaija.

"Yeah, this is Kaija, she calls herself Pyra," Scott said. "Kaija this is Hank, also known as Beast."

Pyra nodded as she stepped closer.

Hank offered her his hand but she did not take it, he looked at Scott for an answer, then he noticed her gloves. "I understand," he said. "Jeff has some serious burns, thanks to you, my dear," he said to Kaija. "I'm not taking sides, I am a doctor and my job is to heal those who need it. However I'm sure that he stepped over his limits."

Pyra said nothing; she looked at the boy Hank referred to as Jeff. The boy had burns around his neck, upper arms, and his face. Jeff was unconscious for the moment, and hooked up to oxygen. The sight of him made Kaija's stomach want to empty its contents on the floor but she did not look away.

Scott looked for a split second but it was clear his stomach couldn't handle the sight as he turned so the hospital curtain blocked his view. He looked at Kaija to see her reaction but it did not seem to faze her.

"He will live, and hopefully he will learn," Hank said putting an icepack on the kid's shoulder and neck area. "I hope that you will learn from this too, Kaija."

Pyra nodded, still saying nothing.

Again, Hank looked at Scott. This time Scott shrugged slightly.

Pyra looked from Hank to Scott and back to Hank. "You expect me to apologize," she asked, knowing the answer.

Hank thoughtfully nodded, "or at least feel some hint of guilt."

Pyra smiled, "He got what he deserved."

"He deserved this? Really, Kaija," Scott asked. "These burns, so serious…are you sure?"

Pyra looked at the kid again, perhaps he didn't deserve such serious injuries. "I'm not going to apologize," she said before turning to leave.

Scott looked to Hank then he spied someone in Hank's office. "Logan," he asked walking towards the office.

Logan opened the door, "Yeah, she gone?"

Scott nodded, "Perhaps we should see the extent of her powers."

Logan nodded, "Just what I was thinking, I'll find her and take her to the danger room."

Hank listened to the two mutants talk. "I still haven't been able to test her for what is her normality's," he said.

Scott looked at Hank, "She won't allow it. Jean already tried, and Xavier tried to reason."

Logan laughed, "I think we can all agree that there is no reasoning with her."

Hank nodded, "not yet at least, her time will come."

Logan shook his head in disbelief and left to find Kaija who was beginning to walk down the hallway that led from the infirmary to one of the main halls. Logan looked down, her gloves rested on the bench that sat outside the infirmary. He picked them up, shaking his head and walked quickly to catch up to her.

"Hey, kid," he said when he was a couple steps behind her. "You left something." He handed the gloves back to Kaija.

Pyra looked at the gloves then looked away. "I don't want them."

"Xavier gave them to you, to help you," Logan said confused as to why she didn't want the gloves that allowed her to touch things such as books and people.

"I never had them before why should I start now," Pyra asked still walking.

"Why do you refuse any help given to you," Logan asked. "You refused medical attention when you got here, tests so we know how to help you, gloves…Why are you here if you don't want help?"

Pyra shook her head. "I was tired of being alone, tired of the testing, tired of solitude and being treated like an animal because I was different than the rest of the normal humans," she replied. "I came here because I saw this place in a dream, a place where I would be accepted…do you know how hard it is to change?"

Logan nodded.

Pyra shook her head, again. "Have you ever been locked away from the rest of the world then suddenly thrown in it? It's a big change, and I'm trying my hardest."

"Then accept the help that is given to you," Logan said handing her the gloves again.

Pyra's eyes flared up, "I don't need them right now."

"How about we take you somewhere, where you can unleash your anger," Logan said. "And put the gloves on, you don't want me to do it for you, kid, believe me, I'll make you wish you had them on in the first place."

Pyra took the gloves from Logan and didn't put them on right away. She followed him through the halls and down a few sets of stairs to a door with a sign that said: _Danger Room_.

Logan looked at Kaija and noticed she still didn't have her gloves on. "Kid, you're pushing your luck," he growled.

"You can't touch my skin," Pyra said, almost taunting him.

"Oh, really," Logan asked, grabbing her hand, though it burned his flesh away he held on. His face flinched from the pain. "Then how did I get you to the neutral zone?"

Pyra's eyes went wide, and tried to break free from Logan's strong grip.

Logan grabbed a glove from Pyra and pushed her into a wall with his free hand while holding onto her right hand with his other. "Uh-uh, kid, I warned you," he said pressing the joint that forced her to spread her fingers.

Pyra winced in pain, still trying to break free without hurting Logan any further.

Logan was having difficulties putting Kaija's glove on her hand, one handed. He put more pressure on her wrist, not realizing that he was.

Pyra kicked Logan's stomach with a force so strong that he let go of her hand and doubled over. Pyra walked away from the wall her hair and fists in flames.

"Put the gloves on, kid," Logan ordered, he was clearly not happy with being kicked. _I'm going to have to start carrying a fire extinguisher with this one…_

Pyra reluctantly put her gloves on as she watched Logan's burnt skin regenerate. Her hair slowly returned to normal and her fists were no longer in flames. Once again, there were no signs of her feeling sorry.

Logan opened the door and rolled his eyes towards the ceiling as if to ask some unknown force to help him. Or save him as the case may be.

The two mutants stepped inside a large and empty arena. Every sound seemed to echo in Kaija's ears. Logan walked to the closest wall and punched in a code. Suddenly the whole room began to change. It didn't change its shape, but it scenery. Instead of plain blank white steel walls, it was dark. Cars popped up out of nowhere and instead of smooth ground, the floor became gravel. Pyra looked around wide-eyed. Two robots came out from behind one of the buildings that suddenly appeared.

Logan smiled. "I'm here if you need my help," he said lighting a cigar.

Pyra looked at him as if to say,_ you're kidding right._ However, he was nowhere near kidding with her, and she knew that.

Logan stepped to the side and stood against the farthest car, the safest place that he could think of.

Pyra looked at the two large robots and took a couple steps forward. "It's only a mirage, he put a code in, it can't hurt me," she whispered to herself. However, the first strong swipe of the nearest robot quickly changed that idea when Kaija was sent flying across the scene and Logan tried to hide his laughter.

Pyra fell onto the roof of a blue broken down car and dented it. She growled in pain and recovered quickly, realizing that she could actually get hurt. They weren't _just _mirages. She quickly got up and became engulfed in flames. "Alrighty, then," she muttered before charging after the first robot throwing fireballs that weren't very effective. Suddenly to very large pillars of fire came up from underneath the first robot and completely melted it away.

Logan's eyes grew wide at the site of the flaming pillars. The cigar that was in his mouth nearly fell out.

The second robot learned from Kaija's actions, it was a learning program, it learned how you moved so it would be harder to beat. It knew Kaija's last moves which she knew weren't here best, and she could guess at the robot's moves.

Kaija allowed the pillars to remain for a little bit that way she wasn't the only thing the robot was worried about. The robot shot a laser at her and she barely got out of the way. The laser hit the blue car and nearly destroyed it's front. Kaija gulped, knowing that could have been her.

"You want to play dirty," she asked the robot, not expecting an answer. "Then, let's play."

A stream of fire surrounded the robot, and the two pillars disappeared and reappeared in front of Kaija. Then a third on appeared behind her. Two of the pillars started to spin and move around the robot. The Stream that she sent after it was searching for the right wires to melt, but it couldn't find wires at all. The robot swiped a metal hand at the spinning pillars of fire, the fire was hot but it reached through and picked Kaija up. The robot seemed to smile as Kaija struggled to break free, she could feel its metal begin to melt away.

Logan saw the robot pick Kaija up and immediately began to think of ways to free her as his claws quickly ejected from his hands and he ran towards the giant junkyard. "Need help there kid," Logan asked, yelling up at Kaija from below her.

"No, I'm perfectly fine," Kaija said a little beyond frustrated.

The three pillars suddenly disappeared. Logan searched for where they went but couldn't find a flame anywhere.

The robot could tell where it all went. Kaija held the heat of the pillars inside of her body and it melted the metal much faster. Once the robot realized this, it threw her hard against the old concrete building a few good yards away. Kaija braced herself, still flaming, her arms shielded her head. Her back hit the wall and she fell to the ground, limp and unconscious.

Logan glanced at Kaija, he couldn't see her in flames any more. "Alright, time to shut you down," he said to the robot, and jumped onto the nearest car then started to climb the rusty old water tower. The robot knocked the tower down with a single laser bolt from its eyes. Logan jumped off the water tower and back onto the little blue car. Again, he glanced at Kaija, who lay unconscious, but was starting to come back.

Kaija looked up, still holding all the heat from the pillars inside of her. She saw that Logan was in trouble and forced herself up with a large flaming hand that came from the ground. She stood on her feet, and swayed a bit. Trying to regain balance, she stepped forward.

Logan was on the ground, bearing his claws into the large metal junkyard, the robot kicked him away and he fell against the remains of the old rusted water tower. The robot looked towards Kaija and let a few laser bolts fly towards her. A couple of the bolts missed Kaija by quite a lot. One was headed towards her, she tried to shield herself with her flames, knowing that she wasn't stable enough to move out of the way yet. The bolt flew through the flames and grazed her upper left arm.

Kaija yelled in pain, gripping her arm. Logan was just starting to come back to it when he heard Kaija yell. Quickly, he got up and found himself in the water tower. He growled when his head hit the metal wall of the horizontal tower. Logan took another lunge at the robot, since he was closest to it. Kaija let the pain go and concentrated on all the heat that she stored inside from the three pillars. She didn't see Logan at the feet of the robot and let out a large blast of immense heat from her two hands, as she stood in the flames. The one large pillar burned a hole through the center of the robot, and up to its neck where the visible wires were. Logan saw the fire and jumped out of the way.

The heat still got to him but it was nothing that he couldn't fix. The robot and the scenery flashed out, leaving only Logan and Kaija in the room, with once again, blank white walls.

"Hey, kid," Logan said to Kaija as he walked towards her. "You all right?"

Pyra nodded. She was breathing a bit hard and a few drops of sweat made a path down her face.

"You're sweating," Logan said reaching out to touch Kaija.

"Don't touch me," she hissed backing away.

Logan looked confused, "Once again, kid you refuse help."

"I never sweat," Pyra replied. "I am never hot, never cold…"

"Alright, well, we'll get you something to drink," Logan said heading for the door.

Pyra shook her head slowly but Logan wasn't looking at her. Suddenly she felt weak, her breathing became fast paced, and she could hear her blood pounding through her veins. She took a step forward, then her world went black and she fell hard on the ground.

Logan had looked back to see Kaija fall, "Kid," he seemed to ask. "Kaija, you okay," he asked again, now starting to walk towards her briskly. He didn't hear a response and didn't see her move, so he ran to her as he pulled out his phone to call Hank and Jean. "I need some help in the danger room," he said calmly. "Kaija just collapsed and isn't responding," he told Hank.

"Can you get her here," Hank asked.

Logan touched Kaija's skin to try and pick her up, "Ah, Damn," he yelled. "No, I can't she's too hot, sorry Hank. I'll call Scott, Bobby's in his class right now and perhaps Jade too."

"That's alright, yes, it is best we cool her down," Hank said. "I'll prepare a place for her here."

Logan nodded and hung up on Hank then called Scott. "Hey, it's Logan."

"What's up, Logan, I'm kind of in the middle of class," Scott said sounding irritated.

"I need to borrow Bobby and Jade in the danger room ASAP," Logan replied a little rushed. He looked at Pyra's pale skin, she was sweating profusely.

"I'll send them down," Scott said. "Keep me posted alright?"

Logan nodded and hung up. "Alright, kid," he said to Kaija, "How'd you do this?"

Whatever response he expected from her he didn't get, as he knew he wouldn't. Soon Bobby and Jade were there to help cool Kaija off until they got her to the infirmary.

…To Be continued


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

_Pyra Cools Down_

Jade was an average girl, with long, jet black hair and cloudy, distant eyes. She had become blind while on a navy ship with her father. The ship was under attack and all persons aboard were forced to jump off. A large blast had blinded Jade, from the fuel lines. She was one of the twenty-five that survived, and the only one that gained mutant powers soon after. Jade gained control over water, she could not produce it, but she could control it and see with it.

Jade used the water from the small urn on her belt to help Bobby Drake cool Kaija down enough to be taken to the infirmary. Bobby used his ice to cool the fainted girl until Logan could finally carry her without being in excruciating pain. Jade used her power to keep Pyra at a tolerable heat for Logan as they walked to the infirmary.

"What happened," Bobby asked Logan.

"I'm not sure," Logan replied. "I'm pretty sure that she had a heat stroke."

Jade nodded, "But how? She has a high heat tolerance, considering that we can't touch her without being burned…"

"I know," Logan growled, the heat was growing again. "That's what scares me."

"We're almost there," Jade said to Kaija, letting part of her water guide her and most of it to cool the girl more.

Hank rushed out of the infirmary after he had set a bed for Kaija with sheets that would not burn. His eyes seemed filled with fear as he urged Logan to hurry. "I have also prepared a tank for her."

"A tank," Bobby and Logan asked in unison.

"It's the only way to get her to cool down enough so I can touch her," Hank explained. "That way it won't drain the three of your energies." Hank led Logan to the back where a tank with water was waiting for the girl.

Logan set Kaija in the tank slowly and carefully not sure, if it was the best choice. After Kaija was set in the tank, Logan took a few steps back and watched Hank begin to work. Jade walked up to the tank and could finally see Kaija in entirety. "She looks like she is in pain," Jade observed. "Anything I can do to help?"

Hank smiled at Jade, "You have helped already, my dear. If I do need your help again, I will ask, and I will keep you three posted. For now, you should go back to your classes; there is nothing you can do here?"

Jade looked in Kaija's general direction once more, and then turned to Bobby who led her out of the infirmary and back to Scott's Algebra class, after her water returned to her urn.

Logan turned to leave but was stopped by Hank, "What was she doing before she passed out?"

"She was in the danger room," Logan said trying to buy some time to think. "I'm not sure, she let out an enormous blast of flames and a couple pillars…but I'm not sure if it has anything to do with this."

"She will come back around, you should get some rest before your next class," Hank said. "I will keep you posted. I know she is the only person that really knows what she did, unless Charles searched her mind, but I am not sure she would appreciate that."

Logan nodded and left the infirmary for the comfort of a nice cold beer.

Hank watched Logan leave, then turned his attention back on Kaija. Her long brown hair seemed to float in the tank. Hank put his left arm under the girl's head so that he could place a breathing mask over her face so she could breathe under the water. The heat rolled off her skin, even under the cold water, but he could tell that her temperature was gradually going down. After the breathing mask was in place, Hank let her head go under the water and waited until he saw bubbles signifying that she was breathing. He then, proceeded to take her pulse, which was high for someone her age.

After a few minutes of letting her cool down, Hank started her on an IV. He monitored her temperature carefully to make sure that it was not going too high. He did not know what her normal temperature was so he did not know when to stop the bath. Hank sat next to the tank of water and went over a checklist. He could do the tests now that she was not conscious. Hank debated whether or not it would be wise to take advantage of the moment and betray her trust. She would probably never know that the tests were run, but he was afraid that if she ever did find out her temper would show again, and he was not willing to risk that. He wished that he could say that she would get over the issue, just like most everyone else, but he had a feeling that she was one to hold a grudge for a long time.

Hank checked her temperature again; it was rising, and decided to recycle the water so that it was cooler again. After the water was recycled, he decided that Charles could handle Kaija's temper as well as the rest, and hoped that she never would find out that he ran the tests. He drew three valves of blood from Kaija. The blood was red, just like everyone else's.

"Alright," he whispered and began to run the blood tests to find out her blood type, and other important information. He heard the water behind him start to slosh around, and assumed that the girl was now conscious.

Turning to look, he found himself correct. Kaija was thrashing around, trying to get out but too weak from the water. He quickly went to the side of the tank and tried to calm the girl, it was clear that she wanted out. Her IV was out and she was attempting to sit up, she had managed to take her breathing mask off. Hank reached into the tank and quickly took out the girl, placing her on a nearby bed that was prepared for her.

"I'm sorry, Kaija," Hank said when she was on the bed safely. "There was no other way to cool you down. How do you feel?"

Kaija closed her eyes and opened them weakly. She looked around realizing she was not in the danger room anymore. Her eyes rested on Hank, she remembered him. "Sick," she managed to say. "Weak."

Hank nodded. "You had a heat stroke of sorts," he said as he restarted the IV. "Do you have any idea how that happened?"

Kaija winced in pain from the entry of the needle, then shook her head slowly. "I was, in the danger room…"

"Did you try something that you never did before," Hank asked, encouraging Kaija to think about what might have caused the heat stroke.

Kaija thought for a few minutes, her head hurt, as well as her back, but she couldn't remember why.

Hank was patient, "Logan mentioned something about pillars of fire and a large blast of flames. Does that mean anything to you?"

Kaija looked confused at first but then remembered. She nodded. "Three pillars to protect…then they disappeared. I could feel their heat inside of me," Kaija paused until the pain in her head eased up a bit. "Logan was hurt…then I released a large blast of flames, it destroyed the robot…I knew I over did it when I began to sweat…"

"But you didn't know how to release the energy safely," Hank finished as he took her temperature again, and gave her something for her headache.

Kaija nodded and swallowed the pill for the pain.

"I'm not sure what your normal temperature is," Hank said. "So you need to let me know if anything doesn't feel normal. I am here to help you, but you must accept it. All I can say now is that you should rest, I imagine the water took a lot of you strength."

Kaija nodded slowly and lay back, her head rested on a pillow, and she watched Hank drain the tank of water, and then wrapped the wound on her arm from the stray bolt. She wanted to sleep but she couldn't as often as Hank checked up on her.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

_Pyra asks for help!_

After a while, Hank left Kaija alone and she was able to get some sleep. When she woke up in the morning, she felt fine, minus the fact that she was still tired from Hank checking up on her.

"Good morning, Kaija," Hank greeted, looking up at her with his tired eyes from his desk. He rose from his chair and starte to walk towards her when he saw that she was taking out the I.V. "You aren't supposed to take that out, I am."

Kaija thre Hank a look of warning as she plucked the needle from her arm. "I don't like needles," she said quietly as she sat up and let her feet dangle over the edge of the bed.

Hank smiled, "I noticed…I do need to still do a couple tests to make sure you are okay, now that you are at a semi normal level, once more."

"No," Kaija said. "No, needles, no tests."

The young girl hopped off the bed, her bare feet hit the cold floor, but it was only cold for a second, before her body heat took over. Hank watched her as she fought to stay standing. She had been laying down for a long time and hadn't had much to drink.

"Do you feel alright," Hank asked.

Kaija nodded. "Can I leave now?"

Hank sighed, he didn't want to push her for more tests. She didn't want to get on her bad side, he had seen the results when she didn't even try. "Yes, m'dear, you may go now," he answered. "Just be a bit more carefull."

Kaija nodded and left to find her room and take a shower, even though she had a bath the day before. It wasn't her choice though. She was scared to run into anyone she knew, and anyone that heard. She saw students in the hall, they talked, mouth to ear until she got closer, then they stopped and stared. They moved out of her way, then laughed. Immediatley, she knew they spoke of her, perhaps it was the fact that she was barefoot, but she doubted it.

She continued on through the Red Sea of students and waves of snickering. She wished they would stop, she felt like taking on the world at the moment, and didn't want to have a reoccurance of the other day.

A blond haired, blue eyed boy came out of one of the rooms and smiled at her. "How are you doing, uh…Pyra isn't it?"

Kaija looked confused.

"You probably don't know me," the boy said. "I'm Bobby Drake, sometimes they call me Iceman. I helped Logan get you to the infirmary."

"Forgive me for not being exstatic on your heroisim," Kaija said turning to her room directly across from Bobby's. "I'm not one for hospitals."

Bobby looked down at her feet. "I see, you left your socks and shoes."

Now, it was Kaija's turn to look at her feet, she knew she left them, but she looked anyways. She shrugged.

"I'll wait for you if you would like some breakfast," Bobby offered. He caught a slight shadow of a smile, or maybe it was his imagination. Either way, Kaija nodded.

"I just need a quick shower first," she answered.

Bobby smiled and nodded. "I'll be out here then."

Kaija went to her room and took a quick shower. Drying off almost immedatly after the water stopped and threw on some clean clothes. She walked out of her room to see Bobby talking to a girl with long brown hair with some white on her bangs.

Both looked up at Kaija.

"Hiya, I'm Rouge," the girl with the white in her hair said with a strong Southeren accent. She extended a gloved hand towards Kaija.

Kaija looked at the hand for a moment.

"It ain't gonna bite ya," the girl said with a smile. She seemed nice.

Kaija extended her hand and they performed the trational handshake. "You wear gloves," Kaija observed.

"I can't touch no one," Rouge said, her accent was beginning to bug Kaija. "Like you, when people touch my skin, they get hurt. I steal their powers for a short time though."

Kaija raised an eyebrow. "You're like me….but you wear gloves," she said, realizing that she didn't have her's on.

"I think their stylish," Rouge said.

Kaija looked at her but said nothing.

Bobby sighed. "Well, why don't we get to breakfast before the cafeteria closes and we have to go to class?"

Both girls nodded and they walked to the cafeteria.

"You really should wear your gloves," Rouge said, once they sat down at a small table. Kaija didn't get anything, she had chared the apple that she picked up.

"I don't like them," Kaija said.

"I didn't know what style you like," Rouge said, a little hurt.

"I mean, I don't like things on my hands," Kaija sighed.

Rouge nodded, "But they help you. You can touch things with them, eat with out over cooking your food."

Kaija got up from the table and started walking away. She was angry that she was getting lectured by someone that thought they understood her because they couldn't touch anyone, just like her.

"I'm sorry," Rouge called. "I'm only try'n ta help!"

Kaija raised a hand to her shoulder and then swated the air with it. She wandered down the hall and outside to the gym, where her first class was. She walked into the gym and took a seat on the floor.

"No troubles today," asked a man with a strong Cajun accent.

Kaija looked up and saw Gambit standing in front of her. "I'll try not to give you any trouble Mr."

"No appologies," he asked.

Kaija looked annoyed. "I'll try not to appologize either, Mr.."

Gambit laughed. "Mind if I pop a sqaut next to ya?"

Kaija shrugged and Gambit took a seat. It was silent for a minute before Kaija realized she hadn't breathed yet. She let out her breath and began to breath normally again.

Gambit looked at her, then back across the gym. "You know, everyone here has their story," he began. "I'm not saying I understand you, cause I don't even know what your story is. I was a kid that wandered the streets, I was a professinal thief before I came here."

Kaija raised an eyebrow. "At least you didn't kill someone," she muttered.

"And dere you are wrong," Gambit said, feeling gulty for his past acts. "I took part in a masacure against the Morlocks which was an underground mutant community. I've killed people."

"You don't know me," Kaija said under her breath.

"And you are right dere," he agreed. "I would like to hear your story though."

Kaija shook her head and snapped her eyes shut. "No…I can't."

Gambit shrugged, "Perhaps not now, then," he paused to look at the time. "You going to put on your uniform today?"

Kaija looked at the floor. "I can't open my locker." She felt stupid, she didn't know how to work the combination lock.

"Well," Gambit said standing up and beginning to walk away.

"Wait," Kaija called, standing up and walking up to her gym teacher when he stopped. "Could…could you."

Gambit looked at her looking confused, but on the inside he was happy. He was getting somewhere with the fire. He waited for her to finish before he dared smile.

"Could you help me with my locker," she finally spat out. Ashamed that she ever needed to ask for help.

Gambit grinned from eart to ear and lightly placed a hand on her covered shoulder. "Of course I'll he'p ya," he said. Then he followed her to her locker.

He was happy she finally broke down and asked someone for help, and she thought that it felt kinda nice to actually have some help. For a girl as independent as Pyra, it was a big step in the right direction.

....To Be continued


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Gambit opened Kaija's locker and had her practice until she got a hang of using the locker combination. She changed into her gym uniform for the first time in her life. It consisted of a pair of red track shorts with white stripes running down the sides. Her shirt was a plain grey t-shirt and she wore a pair of white socks and tennis shoes. She walked out of the girls' locker room unsure of herself. This was the least amount of clothes she had worn in a long time. Suddenly she was aware of her long legs, and she wasn't sure she liked the idea of shorts. She knew all the other girls were wearing the same thing, but that didn't make her feel any better. She could only assume that when they laughed, they laughed at her. She assumed that they gossiped and whispered about her.

Kaija didn't know why she cared so much. She never fit anywhere, she never cared before, or did she? Before she came to the institute, she wasn't around people. At least not anyone that truly cared for her, few as they were. She knew scientists very well, she knew needles, and she knew what they did. Always taking her blood, sticking her in tanks of water for punishment or just so they could touch her. Scientists were fascinated with her and the orphanage got a good sum of money for keeping her there. She had always been the subject of conversation, perhaps which is why she felt she was now, when she didn't even know she was.

Gambit called role, Beast Boy was still missing, but Kaija didn't care. He was the reason she lost her temper the day before. He triggered it and somehow he knew just where to push. He paid dearly for his action but she just looked at him as a scientist. They always came back for more, fascinated with her reaction, no matter how much they got hurt.

"Alright," Gambit said after he called role. "Today, we are going to be playing basketball after ten laps around the gym.

The students groaned, and Kaija was the first to get started. She found that she enjoyed running, she wasn't allowed much exercise in the orphanage. She was hardly ever let out of her room. The only way she escaped so easily was by way of her flame, which she found that she could see by. A couple students caught up with Kaija. Both were boys, both she had seen earlier. They had followed Beast Boy around and now were bugging her.

They looked at her and laughed, before they fell behind her because she sped up.

"Six more laps to go," she whispered to herself, trying not to concentrate on their bullying. She would remain quiet. She would withdraw from the world, yet she would exist. She didn't want to get thrown out; she had nowhere else to go. If no one noticed her, they wouldn't bully her and she wouldn't lose her temper. At least, that was her logic. She looked at everyone as scientists. They studied her, watched her every move. Their eyes bore into her skin and hers into theirs. She studied them, to make sure they wouldn't harm her. She wasn't human, but she still felt pain, and she didn't like the feeling.

She concentrated on her feet, pounding rhythmically on the wooden gym floor. She concentrated on breathing with a rhythm that was slightly off from the rhythm of her feet. She let the voices of the students and Gambit fill her head. She let the memories of scientists fill her mind. The anger swelled in her from it all. She growled and picked up her speed. She felt as if her feet were hardly touching the ground, yet they did. A student decided to show off his power and raced around the gym at a near lightning speed. He became only a blur against white brick walls.

Kaija ignored him and finished her own laps, stopping abruptly and then taking a seat on the wood. Seconds later a figure towered over her.

"Hank dropped these off for you," the Cajun voice said and dropped a pair of maroon gloves into her lap before turning to watch the rest of the students finish their laps.

Kaija sighed and put reluctantly pulled the gloves over her thin hands. The gloves reminded her of the gloves the scientists wore so they could touch her. She didn't know what basketball was, other than a game the students liked to play. The ball was a sort of orangish-brown with black lines running every which way across its surface. She had a feeling that no one wanted to know what a burning basketball smelled like.

"Thank you, Kaija," Gambit said when he saw that she put her gloves on. "Alright break into teams of five."

Students immediately began to find their groups of friends and of course Kaija didn't move. She didn't know who wanted her and who didn't, she didn't want to intrude on a group of four that didn't want her in the first place. A girl about Kaija's height walked over to her with a small smile.

"We need one more person," she said, extending her hand to Pyra who sat on the gym floor.

"I don't know how to play basketball," Kaija said.

The girl laughed, "That's alright, we'll teach you. We aren't much good at Basketball, but we aren't graded on it. You get graded on participation."

"Then I guess I'm failing right now," Kaija replied.

The girl smiled. "Not if you play with us you won't."

Kaija looked at Gambit who purposely looked away. He wanted Pyra to make her own decisions and not rely on others to much. He was glad that she was admitting to things now and in some ways asking for help.

Kaija took a breath and picked herself off the floor. The girl withdrew her hand, seemingly unofended. She probably gathered that Pyra wasn't much of a people person, by now.

"I'm Emily," the girl said leading Pyra to her group.

One girl's eyes looked distant and cloudy. She clearly wasn't focusing on anything. Her long, jet black hair was in a pony tail. She smiled, in Pyra's direction, but didn't look directly at her. Her eyes were constantly moving, and Pyra looked at her quizzically for a moment.

"This is Jade," Emily said introducing the odd-eyed girl. "She is blind, but she can see with water."

The girl introduced as, Jade, smiled and gave a slight nod of her head. "I know you are fire," she said to Pyra. "I did not want to scare you, I have seen you before though," she paused remembering seeing Pyra in the tank. "You are better now?"

Kaija stood confused, she nodded then remembered that Jade was blind. "Yes," she replied.

Jade nodded, "that is good, Hank didn't fill us in like he said he would."

Kaija looked at the other two girls, they were introduced to her but she didn't hear their names. She was too busy wondering how everyone knew her and what happened to her the day before when she didn't even know how they were. She thought for a moment and then decided that she was probably just one more name and face they could store in their memories. They had been at the institute for a much longer time than she had. She still had problems memorizing her class schedule.

Jade bounced the ball on the ground once. "Alright, so the rules are, don't go outside the black lines with the ball. That means we have to give the ball to the other team. Your goal is to get the ball into one of the hoops."

Kaija looked at the two hoops that Jade indicated and wondered if it mattered which one the ball went in. It was a game, it had to matter.

"We don't play for points, no one keeps track. We play because it is a nice game, it keeps you active and it lets you work with a team," Jade continued.

Kaija looked at Jade then at the ball. "I don't do well with others," she said trying to be polite.

Emily smiled, "We noticed…but you will get better at it."

Kaija glared at Emily. She didn't understand why everyone was smiling like nothing was ever wrong. "So, I take that ball, and stick it in one of these hoops." Kaija looked at the hoop behind Jade. "Why?"

"Because, Gambit said so," the all too familiar Cajun voice said right behind Pyra. "And what Gambit says, since Gambit is the teacher goes."

Kaija raised an eyebrow, but decided to let it go. She hated when people snuck up behind her. She hated surprises; she liked knowing what was going to happen when. She hated people watching her, or looking at her when they talked or whispered. She hated it when people looked at her and laughed. She wanted to fit in, but didn't understand why. She was better off alone in the world. Or, so she thought. So far, she had done a great job on almost getting kicked out of the institute. Again, this is what she thought.

"Alright," she grumbled.

Jade smiled and a stream of water raced around her feet then around the gym. "Okay," she said.

At first it was just the four girls against another five person team, with Pyra standing in the middle watching. Gambit watched Pyra. After a while, Pyra finally caught on to how the game was played and began to get involved. She hated that she had to be part of a team. She like working on her own. That way she wouldn't get in anyone's way and no one would get in hers. She didn't like to hurt people. It was what she was afraid of; it was her weakness because she tried so hard to not hurt others, which it was exactly what she did. This she didn't understand, but she didn't bother to ask anyone for help on this either.

Gym class passed and Pyra took a shower soon after the other girls left the locker room. She quickly changed into her daily clothes and ran off to Science class with Storm. Again, Beast Boy was missing. Pyra learned that he had been given the day off, orders from Hank. In some ways, Kaija was glad.

The day's science lesson was over protons and electrons. Kaija caught on quick, even though she didn't understand anything that was taught before the lesson. There were many questions that she had, but she didn't ask, because she knew everyone else knew the answers, and she was the only one that didn't. Again, eyes watched her. Again, she was the specimen that was being studied. She began to feel like a walking science experiment. Again, the anger swelled, but she forced it to stay down. She wouldn't blow up, she had no reason to.

Next was Scott's Intermediate Math class. Math was her worst subject. She was the oldest student in her class and the only one that didn't understand how two plus two equaled four. She was determined to find out how it all worked, or prove it all wrong. She paid attention, though she was lost, the class was into adding fractions, when she didn't' even understand adding. She knew how to count, but again, she didn't want to ask for help. She knew she had to, or Scott would come to her. She knew that she wasn't doing so hot in the class. She was failing, and she was trying. The class had a quiz the next day and she knew that she was going to fail that one too.

Soon the endless class of numbers ended and Kaija picked up her pencils that got knocked over by another student. She grumbled as she did so.

A large hand picked up the last two pencils from the ground and handed them to the unhappy girl. "What is three times three," a voice asked.

Kaija looked up and found that the hand and voice belonged to Scott Summers. "I hate pop quizzes," she grumbled.

"What is the answer," he pushed for the answer.

Kaija shrugged, shamefully.

"Come on, what's three plus three," Scott asked.

Kaija shrugged. "Seven," she guessed.

Scott raised an eyebrow. "Perhaps I should give you private lessons," he said, thinking out loud. "I have a feeling that you will learn quickly, but this way we can go at your pace, and you clearly don't understand the basics, which is why you are struggling with what we are learning now."

Kaija hung her head and heard the bell ring. She was late for her next class.

Scott handed her a pass with his signature and the reason why she was late, and Kaija took it from him. "I would like to speak with you in Professor Xavier's office after school, today," Scott said.

Kaija looked worried.

"It's about class, not about yesterday," Scott said reassuring her that she had nothing to worry about. "In fact, I wasn't even thinking about that until the look you just gave me."

Kaija sighed. It was a mixture of relief and shame. She hated not knowing what everyone else knew. She knew that it was because no one at the orphanage ever bothered to teach her anything. If it wasn't for her father teaching her how to read at such a young age, she would be everything at the kindergarten level, which she wasn't even sure that they had at the institute.

Kaija nodded and left for her English class, finally a class that she understood for the most part. She knew how to read, and she knew how to write, the only thing in English that she didn't know was all the technical terms. She didn't know what a metaphor was, she thought it was some sort of butterfly at first, but it was an English class not a Science, so she knew she was wrong. She also thought that a simile was a smile, but it wasn't spelled the same, and nowhere on any of the pages in her English book could she find a smile.

Her English teacher was nice, but she didn't know her name. She never did pay attention to names. She knew a few, but that was because they kept forcing themselves into her life. Especially when there was trouble, she knew Logan and Scott, as well as Gambit from causing trouble.

Her English class was long and boring. She had a hard time paying attention, they read, "Oh, Captain! My Captain!" by Walt Whitman. That was about the only thing she understood. Soon the bell rang and class was over. Then it was off to Lunch, then History and then art, then Professor Xavier's office.


End file.
